Sheet-moving mechanism



C. E. THROOP. sumnovn'm 'mccmmsm. APPLICATION r1155 sin. n, 1918.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0.. E. THROOP.

SHEET MOVING MECHANISM.

APEUCATION FILED SEPT. 11. 1918. 1,336,598. P tented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES E. THROOP, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YQRK.

SHEET-MOVING iescnsmsm.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ap1'.13, I920.

Application filed September 11. 1918x Serial No. 253,554.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. THnooP, a citizen of the United States, residing in Buffalo, in the county of Erie and the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Moving Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanism for moving a sheet like article from one'placc to another and more particularly a sheet which has the form of a substantially stifi' card like the fiber bottoms or seats which are used in chairs.

Such chair bottoms or seats have heretotore usually been introduced into the space between the dies of the embossing press and also removed therefrom by hand with the constant risk of injuring the hands of the operator.

It is the object of this invention to provide simple and eflicient means whereby seats of this character may be quickly moved from one place to another in a press without requiring the operator to put his hands between the stationary and movable dies and thus not only avoid injuring the operator but also increasing the capacity of the press.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a side elevation of a stamping or embossing press equipped with one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspcctive view showing the means for lifting the sheet from the stationary die of the press. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the gripper and adjacent parts of my improved sheet moving mechanism. Fig. a is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 1 showing the moving mechanism in its retracted position. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the moving mecha nism in its operative or projected position. Figs. 6. T and 8 are fragmentary longitudinal sections, on an enlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Figs. 4 and 5. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary cross sec tion, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 9'9, Fig. 5.

Similar characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Although this invention may be employed in various places for moving a sheet or card from one locality to another the same is illustrated in the drawings in connection with a stamping or embossing press with which it is combined in such manner that it will successively remove the embossed sheet or card from the stationary die to the rear of the press. This press in its general organization comprises a main frame 1, a lower stationary die 2 supported on the bed 1% of the main frame and a vertically movable upper die l which is adapted to cooperate with the lower die for the purpose of embossing or stamping a design on a sheet or card 5 of fiber such as are now commonly employed for the seats or hot toms of chairs. In the present instance the operator places the blank sheets or cards successively uipon the lower die from the front side of the machine while the upper die is elevated, and after the latter has been lowered and raised and produced an impression or embossment on this sheet the latter is removed from the lower stationary die and delivered by my sheet moving mech anism to the rear side of the machine where the same is received by the attendant or may be disposed of in any suitable manner.

The sheet or card moving mechanism embodying my invention may be varied considerably as to the details of construction, but in the form shown in the drawings the same is constructed as follows:

Adjacent to the rear side of the space between the lower and upper embossing dies, is a horizontal and lengthwise movable carrier or carriage which may be of any suitable construction but which in the form shown in the drawings comprises a longitudinal bar 6 arranged horizontally adjacent to one side of the press, a transverse bar or arm 7 projecting transversely inward from the rear end of the longitudinal bar, a pair of outer supporting rollers or wheels 8, 8 guided on an outer longitudinal track 9 which is secured horizontally in the adjacent part of the press frame and an inner supporting wheel or roller 10 mounted on the underside of the transverse arm of the carrier and running on an inner longitudinal track 11 secured horizontally to the adjacent part of the press frame. This carrier may be reciprocated lengthwise of the press in various ways, the means for this purpose shown in the drawings being suitable and comprising an upright elbow shaped rock lever 12 which is pivoted on a bracket 13 on the rear side of the press frame and having a long rear arm and a short front arm, a connecting rod or link 14 which connects the upper end of the long arm of this rock lever with the longitudinal har of the carrier, a rotary cam 15 engaging with a roller on the short arm of the rock lever and operating to turn the latter rearwardly, a spring 16 connecting this lever with the press frame and operating to turn this lever forwardly, a horizontal cam shaft l7 journaled transversely in hearings on the rear part of the press frame and carrying the cam 15 and a chain belt 18 passing around a sprocket wheel 19 on the driving shaft 20 of the press and a sprocket wheel 21 on the cam shaft 17.

On the inner end of the transverse arm of the carrier is arranged a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release the sheet card to he shifted. This gripper in its pre ferred form comprises an upper horizontal jaw 22 arranged in front of the inner part of the carrier arm 7, an inclined guide shanl; 23 connecting the rear end of this jaw to said arm and sloping from its front toward its rear end, a stop in'ojecting dowir wardly from said shank adjacent to the rear end of the upper gripper jaw, a lower gripper jaw arranged horizontall below the upper gripper jaw and an inclined lower guide shank 26 which engages with the in clined upper guide shank and carries the lower jaw at its front end. Upon moving the lower guide shank rearwardly lengthwise relative to the upper guide shank the cooperating; inclined surfaces of these shanks will cause the lower gripper jaw to he moved downwardly and rearwardly relatively to the upper gripper jaw and thereby open the gripper and release the sheet 2 that was grasped between the jaws, as shown in F 8. Upon moving the lower guide shank lor wardly relatively to the upper guide shank the lower gripper jaw will he moved for \vardl v and npvvardl relativel to the up per jaw and cause these jaws to grasp the sheet or card, as shown in Figs. (3 and T. The extent which the sheet or card may enter between these we is determined by the stop or shoulder 24 which serves as a page for this purpose.

The opening and closing of the gripper is effected hy means which 'n'elerahly r()l1l prise a horizontally swinging controlling lever 27' which is arrangei'l transverselv above the transverse carrier arm and pivoted thereto between its ends, a bolt 23 passing through n slot 29 in the inner end of the carrier arm and connected at its upper end with the inner end of the controlling lever and its lower end with the rear end oi" the shank which carries the lower gripper jaw, a shifting pin 30 projecting: from the outer end of the controlling; lever downwardly through a slot 33 in the adjacent part oi" the carrier arm, and front and rear tappets 31, 32 "which are mounted on the trout and rear parts of the outer guide track and adapted to he engaged by the shifting pin 30 during the forward and backward movements of the inrrier.

During the main portion of the forward movement of the gri per its jaws are open, but during the last portion of this movement the upper jaw passes over the upper side of the rear edge portion of the sheet or card on the press, its stop or page pin 2- engages with the rear edge of this sheet, and the shifting pin 30 of the control lever engages with the front tappet 31 and causes this lever to be turned so that the lower gripper jaw is moved forwardly and upwardly against the underside of the rear edge portion of the sheet and produces a firm hold of the gripper on thesheet. During the main part of the subsequent rearward motion of the carrier the gripper retains its hold on the sheet and moves the latter rearwardl from the space between the lower and upper dies of the press, hut during the last portion of this rearward movement the shifting pin 30 of the controlling lever strikes the rear tappet so that this lever is turned in the opposite direction and the lower jaw of the gripper is moved rearwardl and downwardly so as to release the hold on the sheet and permit the same to drop, as shown in Fig. 8. Owing to the vertical movement of the shank of this lower gripper jaw relative to the shank of the upper gripper the bolt 28 connecting the lower gripper shank with the controlling lever 27 is made suflieientlv long to provide the necessary slack connection between these parts, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9.

In order to enable the lower gripper jaw to pass reliably underneath the rear edge of the sheet which is to be removed from the dies of the press means are provided for lifting; this edge of said sheet, during the last part of the forward movement of the ear ring-e. In the preferred form of these lifting means, as shown in the draw ngs. the same are constructed as follows:

3-1 represents a spring lifting arm of substantially U-shaped form which has its lower forwardly projecting, branch secured to the bed of the press and its upper free arm projecting forwardly over the rear edge portion of the lower d e and provided in rear of this die with a laterally projecting tappet 35 which preferably has the form of a roller. On the inner part of the carrier arm 7 is mounted a shifting cam 36 which is arranged in line with the tappet of the lifting arm 3.1. During the rearward motion of the gripper and associated parts the Free end of the lifting arm rests on top of the rear edge portion of the lower die. as shown in Figs. 2 and l, and when the opera for places an uneinbossed blank on this die the rea'redge portion of this blank will project over the free end of the lifting arm. During the last portion of the forward motion of the carrier and before the gripper reaches the rear edge portion of the sheet on the lower die the lifting cam 36 engages with tappet 3.3 of the lifting arm and causes the rear edge portion of theembosscd sheet 2 to be lifted from the lower embossing die so that the lower gripper jaw can pass under neath this sheet and clamp the same again t the upper gripper jaw, as shown in Fig. 6, preparatory to moving this sheet from hetwecn the dies. During the subsequent rearward movement of the carrier the lifting cam 36 is again retracted from underneath the tappet 35 of the lifting arm so as to permit the latter to again descend into its normal position on the lower die preparatory to receiving the next following sheet to be enlbossed and removed.

AlbllUlijIl] this mechanism in the present organization simply operates to move this finished or embossed sheet from the press to a place of discharge it is obvious that the same may be utilized for shifting a sheet from one place to another under widely different circumstances. As instances of further uses of this invention, the same could be organized for carrying a sheet from a supply stack to the dies preparatory to being embossed, and two of such devices might be employed in an embossing press one for carrying the sheet from the supply-stack of blank sheets to the press and another to carry the finished or embossed sheets from the press to the place of delivery Such other uses are possible without any material alteration in the construction of the nn-chanism and the same are deemed to come within the scope of this invention.

As a whole this mechanism is exceedingly simple considering the function it performs, it requires but little power for its operation and not only avoids endangering the safety of the operator but the same also materially increases the output of the press and thereby reduces the cost of producing embossed sheets of the character described.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release. the sheet and which has a relatively movable jaw provided with a gripping face adapted to engage one side of the sheet, a gage adjacent to the rear end of said gripping face am. an inclined guide face in rear of said bearin g face, and the relatively movable jaw having a gripping face adapted to coiiperate with the gripping face of said fixed jaw and a slide face engaging said in- (-lined guide face 2. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release the sheet and which has a relatively movable jaw provided with a gripping face adapted to engage one side of the sheet, a gage adjacent to the rear end of said gripping face and an inclined guide face in rear of said: bearing face, the relatively movable jaw having a gripping face adapted to cooperate with the gripping face of said fixed jaw and a slide face engaging said inclined guide face, a reciprocating carrier on which said fixed jaw is mounted, and means for moving the movable jaw lengthwise of said fixed jaw.

3. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release the shect and which has a relatively movable jaw provided with a gripping face adapted to engage one side of the sheet, a gage adjacent to the rear end of said gripping face and an inclined guide face in rear of said bearing face, and the relatively movable jaw having a gripping face adapted to cooperate with the gripping face of said fixed jaw and a slide face engaging said inclined guide face, a reciprocating carrier on which said fixed jaw is mounted, means for moving the movable jaw lengthwise of said fixed jaw comprising a rock lever pivoted on said carrier and connected at one end to said movable jaw and stationary tappets adapted to be engaged alternately by the opposite end of said lever for rocking the latter at opposite ends of the stroke of said carrier.

4. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release the sheet and which has a relatively movable jaw provided with a gripping face adapted to engage one side of the sheet, a gage adjacent to the rear end of said gripping face and an inclined guide face in rear of said bearing face, and the relatively mov able jaw having a gripping face adapted to cooperate with the gripping face of said fixed jaw and a slide face engaging said inclined guide face, a reciprocating carrier on which said fixed jaw is mounted, means for moving the movable jaw lengthwise of said fixed jaw, and means for guiding said carrier comprising a track, and rollers mounted on the carrier and engaging said track.

5. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a gripper which is adapted to grasp and release the sheet and which has a relatively movable jaw provided with a gripping face adapted to engage one side of the sheet, a gage adjacent to the rear end of said gripping face and an inclined guide face in rear of said hearing face, and the relatively movable jaw having a gripping face adapted to coiiperate with the gripping face of said fixed jaw and a slide face engaging said inclined guide face, a reciprocating carrier on which said fixed jaw is mounted, means for moving the momble jaw lengthwise of said fixed jaw, and means for actuating said carrier 00m rising a rock lever, a link connecting said ever with said carrier, and a rotary cam engaging said lever.

6. A sheet moving mechanism comprising a reciprocating carrier, a grip er mounted on said carrier and provide with jaws adapted to engage opposite sides of the sheet, and means for lifting the sheet preparatory to being engaged by said gripper comprising a spring arm which is mounted on a. sta- 10 tionary support and adapted to sup ort the edge of said sheet, a ta pet arrange on said spring arm, and a shi 'ting cam mounted on said carrier and adapted during the last part of its forward movement to engage said 15 tappet and lift the spring arm and the sheet resting thereon.

CHARLES E. THROOP, 

